> > Why did kamikazi pilots wear helmets?
>
> Why do people ask this as if there's something unusual about it?
>
> They've still got to stay alive long enough to reach the target.
>
> Kamikaze pilots weren't allowed to crash just anywhere - the whole point was to take as many of the enemy as possible with you.
> Trying and failing was even more dishonourable than not trying at all.
>
> Paul
Now look what you've gone and done, Paul. You've reminded me of a story:
There was once a really great US Navy pilot who had become an ace in WWII in a very short time. Like many fighter pilots, he was his own greatest fan. He was not the least bit modest and to say that he had a big ego was an understatement.
One fine morning in the middle of the Pacific, he took off from the carrier, did a barrel roll just above the wavetops and pulled up into a steep climb. Suddenly, a Japanese Zero appeared diving toward him out of the sun. After a brief exchange of gunfire the Zero plunged into the ocean. A second Japanese flyer attacked him and the battle went on for some time before the American again sent his enemy into the sea. He climbed high into the sky looking for more Zeros. Seeing none, he did a few loops and rolls before making a perfect landing. A deck hand rushed out to his plane as he slid back the canopy. "Have you ever seen such flying!" he exclaimed to the deckhand. "Such great shooting! Such precise handling! Such style and grace!"
"Ah so," replied the deckhand. "But Yankee pilot make one big mistake."
Howard